Skate the Line: A Single Dad Hockey Romance (Blue Devils Hockey Book 2)

“I don’t see anything wrong with it.” Ruby is doing her best to calm me down in my panicked state. I’m surprised there isn’t a hole in the floor from my incessant pacing. “Plenty of nannies live with their employers.”

“Well, yeah. I know. I used to be one of those.” My heart thumps.

“Look at it like this.” I stop pacing and stare at the screen. Ruby is slicing fruit for Marybella while she plays in the background. “If you continue to think about the past with every little thing, you’re still letting him get into your head.”

I make a face, and she points the knife at me.

“Which we do not want. Rhodes is different. He’s already proven that, right?”

They couldn’t be more opposite, so I nod.

Ruby and I share silence, and I know what she’s thinking. She’s thinking about how I showed up at her doorstep with tears running down my face, a torn shirt, and a busted lip.

“I hate him,” she says quietly.

And I hate that he still lingers in my head.

Lights appear through the window, and I’m positive it’s Marco pulling up. To save him the trouble of coming to the door, I quickly hang up with Ruby and rush to greet him.

He’s somehow already standing there.

“Good evening, dear.”

I scoff with amusement. “You’re awfully fast for your age, Marco.”

He smiles. “I have to keep up with you, don’t I?”

I roll my eyes playfully and drag my suitcase behind me. Marco bends to take it, but I pull it away. He shoots me a look, and I smile triumphantly. The street is becoming busier with those frat parties that have been keeping me up at night. Marco glances down the street a couple of times and continues to walk beside me when I go back for my smaller bag.

“Should I add bodyguard to your bio?” I tease.

His lips flatten, hiding his wrinkles. “Just following the boss’s orders.”

“What orders?”

He hums under his breath, and that’s the only answer I get.

I cross my arms after I slide into the passenger seat. “I see where your loyalty lies.”

Marco chuckles and takes off down the street.

“I won’t hold it against you, considering he does pay you,” I mumble.

It doesn’t take long to get to my new living quarters.

Nerves gnaw on my stomach as I toss around my sudden decision to move into Rhodes’s house. It does make things easier—on both of us. If only I could rid myself of the lingering concern.

“Sunny!”

Ellie comes bouncing out the front door in a T-shirt ten sizes too big for her. It’s a Chicago Blue Devils shirt that I’m assuming is Rhodes’s. Her hair is wet and slaps me in the face when I bend to give her a hug.

I gasp. “Get back inside, Rapunzel! You’re going to catch a cold!” I leave my suitcase where it is and swoop her into my arms. I rush us to the front door with her giggle echoing around us.

Rhodes stands there in nothing but jeans and a black tee. When he sees us coming for him, he quickly moves out of our way.

“How does she have so much energy?” I hear him ask Marco.

“Who? Ellie or Ms. Edwards?” Marco replies.

I laugh to myself and place Ellie on the couch. I wrap her up in a blanket like a burrito, something that makes her laugh again, and go back for my suitcase.

Both men are in the entryway with my suitcase and bag.

Rhodes glances at me briefly as I slowly make my way over to him. “Thank you,” I say, reaching for my bags.

Without pausing his conversation with Marco, he pulls them out of my reach.

I huff, and he ignores me.

“Alright, Ms. Edwards. I’ll be back in the morning to deliver Rapunzel to school.”

“Marco,” I warn. “It’s Sunny.”

He salutes me. “Goodnight, Sunny.”

“Goodnight, Marco.” I salute back.

When Rhodes is distracted, I try to reach for my suitcase again.

He pulls them away. “Will you knock it off?”

I peer at him. “Knock what off?”

Rhodes stares at me. “It’s pretty standard for a man to carry your luggage, Ms. Edwards. It’s called being a gentleman.” He shakes his head. “It’s clear you’ve never been with one.”

His eyes drop to my mouth when I stick my bottom lip out with a pout. “I have too,” I lie.

The only true gentleman I’ve known was Gramps.

Rhodes slips past me. I wait until he’s halfway up the stairs to say, “I just wasn’t aware you were a gentleman.”

He stops immediately, and a loud snicker erupts from his mouth. He glances over his shoulder at me, and I lose my footing—but only for a brief second. Admitting to myself that he’s attractive is fine. I can’t expect myself to ignore the elephant in the room.

Rhodes is dreamy. His soft, effortlessly tousled hair flings onto his forehead as he peers down from the steps. It pairs nicely with his olive skin tone and dark-rimmed green eyes. But he has a dangerous vibe to him. He’s confident and a bit callous. The scruff on his face doesn’t help either.

But just because he’s good-looking doesn’t mean he’s going to pursue me or expect me to fall at his feet like most. He’s made it very clear that he isn’t the least bit interested in me—or anyone, for that matter—and he has no idea how much that calms me.

Rhodes shakes his head and continues up the stairs, releasing me from the spell he didn’t even know he casted.

I hear Ellie fake coughing. I glance at her on the couch, and she’s still wrapped up in the blanket.

“A little help?” she squeaks.

I laugh and unwrap her before heading upstairs with her on my back.

Rhodes walks out of a room and pauses at the sight of me huffing. “Do you need me to put an elevator in?”

I roll my lips together. “No, Mr. Plays-Pro-Hockey-For-A-Living. I’m just not used to carrying a human on my back.”

He quietly chuckles and flicks his head to the bedroom, expecting me to follow him.

Ellie runs off to her room, leaving me alone with her dad.

A tight knot clogs my throat as I stand outside of the threshold.

“I’ll get you a real bed,” he says. “I didn’t bother furnishing the room because—” He turns and stops talking when he sees me standing in the hall. “You can come in, you know.”

My gaze skitters away.

Stop it, Sunny.

Rationally, I know I’m being ridiculous. I’m on edge because deciding to live at his house brings up an uneasy memory that still has me reeling with nerves.

I dig the heels of my feet into the floor and eventually step into the room. Rhodes looks at me incredulously but ignores my behavior and continues going on about the room.

“There’s a loft-type room above us on the third floor, but it doesn’t have its own bathroom, so I assumed you’d want this one.”

I nod. He assumed right.

“What do you use the loft for?” I ask curiously. It’d make a nice area to store some canvas and maybe an easel. If there’s a window, sunlight could stream in and make way for the natural light needed to see the true richness of paint colors.

“Oh.” Rhodes puts his hands in his pockets. “That’s where I store all the other nannies. I chain ‘em up.”

My mouth opens.

Then closes.

Then it opens again.

He snorts before laughing loudly. “Jeez, I’m kidding.”

My cheeks burn. I cross my arms angrily and act fast. “Well, obviously! I was just shocked because I wasn’t aware that you could make jokes.”

He smirks, but it’s fleeting.

I’m thankful he turns away, because the heat on my face isn’t going away.

The tiniest thought slips into my head that is highly inappropriate and shocking. Rhodes chaining women up shouldn’t make my belly dip.

“Again, I’ll get you a bigger bed. This was all I had on short notice.”

I decide to give Rhodes a dose of his own medicine as payback. I shrug nonchalantly. “That’s okay. I can just sleep in yours.”

He snaps his head over to me so quickly I hear a pop echo throughout the near-empty room. My laughter comes next. “Sorry! I thought we were on joking terms now.”

The smallest smile—or twitch of his lips is more like it—catches my eye. I turn at the sound of Ellie walking into my new room. She gives it a once-over before her nose scrunches. “Maybe you should paint it…” she says.

“What’s wrong with the color?” Rhodes acts offended.

Ellie makes a face. “It’s…what’s the word?” She taps her little finger on her chin. “Borrrrrring.”

I giggle.

Rhodes glances at me and looks as if he’s perturbed that I’m half-siding with his five-year-old daughter.

He glances around once more. “I guess you can paint it since it’s…boring.” He directs the last part of his sentence to Ellie, and she smiles.

“Okay, well, let’s get you to bed, Printsessa.”

Ellie creeps a little farther into the room. “Sunny, will you read me Rapunzel before bed?”

She bats her sweet eyes up at me, and I can’t help but nod.

“Ellie,” Rhodes warns. “Remember our ground rules.”

“Ground rules?” I ask.

Rhodes rubs his palm along his face. He tells Ellie to go brush her teeth, and once she’s out of his sight, he starts to explain.

“I told her that just because you’re living here, doesn’t mean you’re always available to her. If I’m home and you’re upstairs, then she needs to give you space.”

“That’s not necessary.” I glance over to the door and can see that Ellie is walking as slow as humanly possible.

She’s quite the eavesdropper.

I wait until she’s fully out of sight before moving a little closer to her father. “I should probably tell you what her teacher said to me today when I picked her up.”

He puts his hand up. “You don’t have to. Ellie already told me.”

I make a noise that resembles a laugh. “She did, now? What exactly did she say?”

Rhodes reiterates everything Ellie told him, and I’ll give it to her—she’s honest.

“Well, then you can understand why I’d rather be available to her at all times. I’d like to build that trust with her.” I pause, and a thought occurs. “Oh god.” I slap my forehead. “You probably feel like I’m trying to take over your parenting role. Duh. Just ignore m⁠—”

His hand briefly falls to my arm. He removes it quickly, but the warmth stays. “I don’t think that. Honestly, I much prefer the help, Sunny.” His gravelly, quiet tone drives his desperation that much deeper. So does the fact that he just used my real name.

He steps away, and I nod. “Well, then. I’m off to read Rapunzel.”

Before I get too far, he calls out, “By the way, there’s a working lock on this door. I left the key on the bathroom sink.”

I smile softly and relax even more.